April 11, 2005

Australia’s tax system is old fashioned and inefficient and must be reformed urgently the Business Coalition for Tax Reform (BCTR) today said.

Excessive, high levels of personal income tax paid by every Australian worker was preventing Australian growth, reducing incentives to attract highly skilled people, reducing incentives for savings and stopping investments.

BCTR Chairman, Mr John Stanhope today came out in support of major tax reform as detailed in the BCA Tax Reform submission to the Commonwealth Government.

“The Australian tax system needs a complete ”makeover” to further improve our competitiveness in the international arena,“ Mr Stanhope said.

“Tweaking and interim changes are not enough. The Commonwealth and the State Governments need to get real and affect meaningful tax reform that will benefit the hip pocket of all Australian taxpayers,” Mr Stanhope said.

The Action Plan for Tax Reform issued by the BCA was fully supported by the BCTR. In particular the BCTR supported the following changes:

• Australia's two highest personal marginal tax rates be lowered to no higher than 40 percent and preferable lower;

•  Reduce personal taxes for temporary residents to make it more attractive for them to work here;

•  Review company taxes immediately with a bias towards lowering them to remove pressures which stop investment; and

•  Abolish State taxes on financial and insurance instruments.

The BCTR is a forum for bringing together the views of the business community on tax reform issues. The BCTR aims to promote and improve Australia’s taxation system. While much has been achieved in recent years in the tax reform arena, the task is ongoing with much still to be done.

Further information about the BCTR is available on the BCTR website on www.bctr.org

The members of the BCTR include Australian Food and Grocery Council, Australian Industry Group, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Retailers Association, Australian Stock Exchange, Business Council of Australia, Corporate Tax Association of Australia, CPA Australia, Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, International Banks & Securities Association Australia, Insurance Council of Australia, Investment and Financial Services Association, Master Builders Australia, Meetings Industry Association of Australia, Minerals Council of Australia, Property Council of Australia, Real Estate Institute of Australia and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Contacts:

Paul Drum

Chair

BCTR Personal Tax Sub-Committee

Telephone: 03 9606 9701

Mobile: 0414 760 385

Email: paul.drum@cpaaustralia.com.au

Jane Sullivan

General Manager Corporate Affairs F&A

Telstra Corporation Limited

Telephone: 03 9632 3701

Mobile: 0418 431 927

Email: jane.sullivan@team.telstra.com